NEW YORK — No. 19 Harvard used a pair of big plays in the first quarter to take an early lead and held off a late Columbia push in a 38-24 Saturday afternoon. The Lions fell to 2-6 overall and 0-5 in Ivy League play after the defeat.

Joey Giorgi rushed for 92 yards and had a pair of touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving. First-year Edan Stagg posted seven receptions for 82 yards and Joe Greeen was 24-of-40 for 215 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Defensively, Anthony Roussos led the way with a game-high nine tackles.

"We dug ourselves a bit of a hole early and weren't able to dig our way out of it," interim head coach Mark Fabish said. "It was two big plays by them early, and other than that, it was an even game. I told the guys at the half we need to make those plays in the second half. Unfortunately, any time we made a big play, they responded. But I'm proud of everybody in our locker room for how they prepare can continue to fight."

After the teams traded three and outs on their first drives, Harvard (7-1, 4-1) struck first with an 83-yard connection from Jaden Craig to Tim Dowd with 11:21 remaining in the first quarter. Columbia was forced to punt again three plays later, and Harvard blocked the attempt and returned it for a touchdown to double its lead moments later.

The Crimson then worked their way down the field 68 yards over 12 plays to set up a 27-yard field goal to make it 17-0 with 1:12 left in the first.

Columbia worked its way back into the game, thanks to a fourth down catch by JJ Jenkins to extend a 75-yard scoring drive. Two plays later, Joey Giorgi found some space down the left side, tiptoed down the sidelines to stay inbounds and was pushed to the pylon for the Lions first score of the game with 11:11 to go in the half. However, Columbia's momentum was short-lived.

It took Harvard just five plays to march down the field and score on a 3-yard handoff to Shane McLaughlin to restore the three-possession cushion and hold that margin into the intermission.

On the first drive of the second half, the Lions ate up nearly 10 minutes of the clock and trimmed the deficit to 24-10 after Hugo Merry connected on a 42-yard field goal. Columbia's defense came up with a key stop to give the ball back to the offense to close the end of the third quarter, but Harvard's Kaleb Moody came up with a one-handed interception on first down near midfield, his second of the day, to put an abrupt end to the Lions' drive.

McLaughlin capped a 63-yard drive with his second score of the day just 1:30 into the fourth quarter and the Crimson took advantage of a short field after Columbia came up empty on fourth down for another touchdown with 8:21 left in the game.

Columbia scored its second touchdown of the day to make it 38-17 with 6:22 remaining on an 11-yard pass from Green to Giorgi. The Lions closed out the contest with a second consecutive score with 20 seconds to go when Jenkins made his fifth catch of the game for another 11-yard touchdown.

The Lions will play their final home game of the season when they host Brown, next Saturday, November 11, for senior day. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by calling 888-LIONS-11, visiting GoColumbiaLions.com/tickets or contacting lionstickets@columbia.edu. 

Fans can also catch the action on ESPN+ and SNY.

For the latest on the Columbia football team, follow @CULionsFB on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.

POSTGAME NOTES
- Columbia was not penalized in a game for the first time since October 22, 2011 at Dartmouth.
- Giorgi recorded the first multi-touchdown game of his career.
- Columbia had multiple touchdown passes in a game for the first time this season