HAMILTON – Grab a few minutes alone with Brion Applegate '76 – not an easy proposition because he's always in demand during his times on the Colgate campus – and the subject quickly can turn to football.
 
Applegate played for the Raiders in the 1974 and 1975 seasons after transferring from the U.S. Air Force Academy. During that change, he made the move from quarterback to wide receiver and wound up averaging 20.4 yards per catch his senior season.
 
No Colgate Raider has matched that mark in 42 years.
 
Since his playing days, few have equaled what Applegate has accomplished off the field as well for Raider Athletics.
 
The Beachwood, New Jersey, native, who co-founded Spectrum Equity in 1994 and has been involved in private equity investing since 1979, was inducted last month into the Colgate Athletics Hall of Honor. He has heavily supported all of Colgate's athletic programs in the years since his graduation. Applegate is a Board of Trustee Emeriti and served on the Athletic Affairs Committee, providing valuable insight and support to the department.
 
He is a member of Raiders for Excellence and has donated to several athletics capital campaigns, including the Class of 1965 Arena, football press box, indoor golf facility, and most recently the new football locker room, team meeting room – which he named for his mother, Ruth Cline Applegate – and academic enhancement center.
 
Those three facilities opened last month to glowing acclaim.
 
20.4 Speaks for Itself
But he still loves to talk football, all while downplaying his own accomplishments.

"The consequence of that receiving record in terms of yardage per catch was really a lot more related to the number of attempts and number of completions," said Applegate, who that year caught 25 balls for 510 yards and two touchdowns. "Back then – the offense we were playing was a wishbone option – we were maybe throwing 10 or 15 passes per game.
 
"Today and in the offenses that have developed so wonderfully over the decades, it's rare when you have a game where you throw fewer than 25 passes. So it's really more related to the number of attempts and number of completions than anything else."
 
Applegate might have a point. He's the last Raider to lead the team in receiving with as few as 25 receptions. John Maddaluna III topped the last two seasons with 62 and 54, respectively.
 
But 20.4 speaks for itself, and those numbers helped propel Colgate to a 6-4 mark in that 1975 campaign.
 
"Probably the game I remember most was at William & Mary," Applegate said of the 21-17 Raiders' triumph. "It was the second-to-last game that season and we went down to Williamsburg and beat a very good team on their home field."
 
Basile Called the Shots
Applegate's quarterback in 1975 was Bruce Basile, who was a two-year starter and senior-year captain.
 
"He's a fabulous guy and was a great leader of our offense," Applegate said. "He wasn't the biggest athlete in terms of stature or the quickest in terms of running speed, but he was a tough, competitive kid. And it was great – we really had a fun senior year."
 
Another memorable Colgate win that season was 22-21 at Princeton.
 
"It was a funny game," Applegate said. "We played them very tough and at the end of almost every period, we were ahead on the scoreboard. Our offense was way ahead of them in terms of yardage and our defense was playing well, but Princeton had a knack for making big plays and they kept coming back on us quarter by quarter.
 
"We had outplayed them, but we found ourselves down by six points with a couple of minutes to play."
 
Colgate got the ball back and drove the length of the field to tie the game 21-21 with almost no time left on the clock. The PAT was good and Colgate escaped with the victory.
 
"I felt then like I feel now – I can't stand the Ivies!" Applegate said. "And when we played them, we wanted to beat them. When we came back and won that game, our sidelines went wild and our fans at old Palmer Stadium went crazy.
 
"It was such a great experience and the bus ride back to Hamilton was hilarious."
 
Loves This Place
Applegate enrolled at the Air Force Academy out of high school and played quarterback there for the freshman team. But he decided to transfer to Colgate, having remembered his exceptional visit there a few years back.
 
His host for that visit: Mark van Eeghen.
 
Applegate said Colgate Football was a family then under head coach Neil Wheelwright and says it's the same today under Dan Hunt.
 
"I'll tell you what I like about this team – this team plays hard and they play smart and they play tough," Applegate said. "I love to see that, so I'm really a huge fan of this team and I'm a huge fan of the way Coach Hunt is getting our kids ready to play.
 
"I love the way they play the game."
 
Applegate's appreciation for Colgate remains a two-way street. He relishes the University having success across the board – athletics included. He was drawn to the campus by its people, had that magical season 42 years ago, and remains a huge influence on Colgate's present and future.
 
"As a student-athlete, I had the chance to go into battle with some incredible individuals," Applegate said. "And interestingly, 30 years later, to come and serve on the board, it was the same thing. Very hard-working, very dedicated and people very committed to Colgate.
 
"For me, it's really simple: there's something very special about this place. I love it dearly, and I'm so proud to be a part of this community."