Blake Cashman is one of 10 semifinalists for the Burlsworth Trophy, the Burlsworth selection committee announced Tuesday.

Cashman was one of 69 original candidates given to the most outstanding football player who began his career as a walk-on and has shown outstanding performance on the field. Each nominee must have begun his first season of participation without financial aid of any kind from his university’s athletic department.

Cashman has played in 45 career games and has made 151 tackles (99 solo), which includes 28 tackles-for-loss (currently ninth in school history) and 10.5 sacks. This year, he leads the Gophers with 72 tackles, 45 of which have been solo stops. He has 12 tackles for loss, one sack and three pass breakups.

As a junior, Cashman finished the season with 30 tackles, 5.0 tackles for loss and two sacks as he received the team’s Gary Tinsley Award (player who best embodied the underdog spirit of the late former Gopher Gary Tinsley) for the second straight year.

As a sophomore, Cashman registered 45 tackles, 10.5 tackles-for-loss and a team-leading 7.5 sacks. He was named the Holiday Bowl Defensive Most Valuable Player after recording 12 tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack in a win against Washington State.

Cashman made an immediate impact as a Gopher, as he played special teams as a freshmen. In his first career game – against No. 2 TCU – Cashman made a tackle on a kickoff against the Frog’s Kolby Listenbee that is still talked about in the Twin Cities.