Columbia tops Cornell 17-9 to earn share of Ivy League title for first time since 1961

NEW YORK (AP) — Joey Giorgi ran for 165 yards and scored a touchdown and Columbia beat Cornell 17-9 on Saturday and earned a share of the Ivy League title on the season's last day on Saturday.

Columbia (7-3, 5-2) received help from Yale which beat Harvard (8-2, 5-2) 34-29. Dartmouth (8-2, 5-2) also forged its way to the top of the Ivy League standings when it drubbed Brown 56-28, also on Saturday.

Last year Dartmouth, Harvard and Yale all finished 5-2 to share the league championship. Prior to 2023, the last time the Ivy League champion had two losses was 1982 when Dartmouth, Harvard and Penn all finished 5-2.

Also prior to 2023, the last time there was a three-way tie for the title was 2015 when Dartmouth, Harvard and Penn all finished 6-1.

Columbia's share of the title marked only the program’s second all-time and its first since 1961. As for Cornell (4-6, 3-4), the Big Red were attempting to post their first winning Ivy League campaign since 2005.

Caleb Sanchez's 1-yard run ended a 10-play, 61-yard drive whcih lasted just more than four minutes that gave Columbia a 7-0 lead with 6:30 left in the first quarter.

With six seconds before halftime, Giorgi crashed in from the 1 at the end of a three-play, 76-yard drive that was highlighted by Sanchez's 73-yard completion to Ethan Hebb on the first play of the drive. The score made it 14-3.

Cornell quarterback James Wang threw for 154 yards and a pair of interceptions and ran 20 times for 97 yards. The Big Red's points came from place kicker Alan Zhao who made 3 of 4 and connected from 45, 34 and 22 yards.

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