for Buffalo which had temporarily terminated its football program. Like their previous two contests, the 1972 affair also ended in a lopsided shutout win for the Lions. Again, competing at different levels kept the schools from establishing a series. This changed in the 1980s. Columbia, along with the rest of the Ivy League, was relegated to the new Division I-AA (now known as NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision) after the 1981 season. Fordham moved up to I-AA prior to the 1989 season. This put the 1991 encounter between the two on a more even footing. Fordham won that fourth meeting by a 20-16 score. Columbia gained revenge in sweeping the next four contests, which were played in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996. After a brief hiatus, the two renewed their series in 2000, typically as Columbia's season opener and the third game on Fordham's schedule. Origin Of the Liberty Cup The 10th meeting between Fordham and Columbia originally was scheduled for September 15, 2001. In the days following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Major League Baseball, the National Football League and many NCAA Division I teams canceled games for the following weekend. But Fordham and Columbia — the only Division I football teams in New York City at the time — debated as late as Friday, September 14, about the possibility of playing. Fordham officials wanted to send a message about American resilience in the face of the attacks, but Columbia officials argued that it was too soon to think about playing a football game. "The question was, should we not play and mourn and honor our dead, or was normalcy in the face of this disaster the best response?" said the Rev. Joseph A. O'Hare, president of Fordham at that time. The schools decided against playing on Sept. 15, but later in the season agreed to meet on Thanksgiving morning, November 22. Fordham thumped Columbia 41-10 before a surprisingly ample crowd, considering the holiday and early start time. Afterward, O'Hare said it had been the right decision to reschedule. "Oh, absolutely," he said. "I think we had put sports in perspective – and we played great." Less than 10 months after that game, the underdog Lions gained their revenge, holding Fordham close for 59 minutes before winning with a 37-yard field goal with 10.5 seconds to play. This September 2002 matchup was the inaugural Liberty Cup game. The