Less than 17 days from the season opener against Western Michigan, fans lined up to get autographs from MSU football head coach Mark Dantonio and players from the offense and defense, along with members of the ?MSU cheerleading and dance teams.

?Fans also were greeted with the smell of hotdogs and a lively music spread courtesy of MSU disc jockey T. Campbell.

?“It’s a great opportunity for these young kids to come out here,” Greg Ianni, MSU’s deputy athletics director, said. “You see all of these little kids with Spartan apparel on. These are our future fans, our future students, you know? It’s pretty cool to see them out here.

?“And our student-athletes are having a good time too, so that’s kind of nice.”

?The event, which in past years had been held in downtown East Lansing and the Meridian Mall in Okemos, was cognizant of its fresh locale, allowing fans to take photos on the field and enjoy the recently renovated ? $10 million scoreboards from a seat on the south end of Spartan Stadium.

Many fans took advantage of the autograph session with Dantonio and the players, waiting in line for varying lengths of time to get their posters, footballs and other MSU memorabilia inked by their Spartan heroes.

?It was an event tailor-made for several generations of Spartan fans.

?Spending a warm, fall afternoon on campus, Grand Rapids resident Eric Terry, along with his son Landon, 8, and daughter Avery, 5, were taking in all of the sights MSU has to offer. Celebrating Landon’s birthday by exploring the campus, Terry, wearing an MSU No. 23 Javon Ringer jersey, said the family was enjoying the day, which was highlighted by running into former MSU basketball greats Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Kalin Lucas.

?Turning his sights to football, Terry said he’s looking forward to the upcoming football season, citing a desire for the team to perform better on the offensive side of the ball.

?“I’m looking for the offense to get moving a little better, especially on third downs and to convert in the red zone,” he said. “And (they need to) put up a little more points to support the defense.”

?Despite a relatively small student base at the event as the summer semester winds to a close, p?ackaging senior Hayley Laird said Meet the Spartans opened up the general public to the human side of the student-athletes.

?“The students feel really close to the team because we’re also students (like the players),” Laird said. “But for this kind of event, the (fans) get to know the football players as players and also as students, where they don’t often get to see that kind of interaction on gameday.”