Houston Baptist player's tackle total lowered by NCAA

(STATS) - Houston Baptist linebacker Garrett Dolan surpassed 500 tackles in his career last weekend, but it no longer appears in the NCAA record books that way.

Considering Dolan's total has been compiled over five seasons instead of the usual four, NCAA officials decided Friday not to count his 58 tackles gained over six games in 2013. That year, Houston Baptist played a seven-game start-up schedule prior to joining the Southland Conference a year later.

While the NCAA will recognize the seven games as exhibitions for Houston Baptist, it will continue to count the statistics of the opponents, spokesman J.D. Hamilton said.

Dolan had 16 tackles in Houston Baptist's 24-17 loss against Nicholls last Saturday night, raising the 6-foot-2, 240-pound All-American to 510 tackles in his career. But NCAA statistics have been adjusted to reflect him at 452 heading into the final two games of his career.

The NCAA's decision means there are three FCS players in the 500-tackle club. Former Illinois State standout Boomer Grigsby holds the all-time record with 550 tackles from 2001-04. Next are Appalachian State's D.J. Smith and Saint Francis' Scott Lewis, who both played from 2007-10, with 525 and 524 tackles, respectively.