Watching this 6-foot-7, 260-pound genetic freak walk into Dave Wannstedt's office at Pitt four years ago, Phil Bennett thought to himself: "God, what would I do if I ever got a chance to coach a kid like that?"

Bennett's getting that chance.

Now an even bigger "freak" at 6-9 and a chiseled 280 pounds, Baylor junior defensive end Shawn Oakman is making the most of his second chance, racking up five sacks and seven tackles for losses in the first five games for the third-ranked Bears (5-0, 2-0).

"It took me about 30 seconds to offer him a scholarship," said Wannstedt, the former Pitt head coach, who is now an analyst with FOX Sports 1. "And I told him, `You're going to be the first guy off the bus.'''

Had he stayed at Pitt, Wannstedt believes, "We would have had a real good chance of getting him." But when Wannstedt was fired, Oakman ended up at Penn State and was in position to contribute as a redshirt freshman defensive end going into spring training in 2012.

That's when things took a turn.

Already facing two strikes, including one for missing a class, Oakman was charged with a misdemeanor and fined for an incident at an on-campus convenience store. Two days later, new head coach Bill O'Brien dismissed him from the team.

"A lot of people turned their backs on me because I didn't do what I was supposed to do," he said.

Larry Johnson, Oakman's defensive line coach at Penn State, didn't turn his back. It was Johnson that reached out to Baylor associate head coach Brian Norwood, a former Penn State assistant, and inquired about the former all-state defensive end from Lansdowne, Pa., transferring to Waco.

"It wasn't (about) the comfort zone, it was knowing that I had messed up," Oakman said. "And knowing that no matter what I had to do to play football again, no matter where I had to go to play football again, I was going to go. . . . I believe in Coach Johnson 100 percent. So, I was down to go wherever he said."

Before he left, though, Oakman wrote an apology letter to his Penn State teammates and placed it in every locker.

"Growing up in the type of environment that I grew up in, you didn't always have that family-oriented camaraderie," he said. "Those guys were my brothers, and I felt like I let my brothers down. I felt like I was leaving my brothers to go through all that process by themselves . . . knowing that I could probably help in a situation where most people couldn't help."

Oakman transferred to Baylor and signed a financial aid agreement in the summer of 2012. But since he was dismissed from the Penn State team before the NCAA handed down its sanctions, he had to sit out the 2012 season as a Division I transfer.

By the time he suited up for the Bears for the first time in August 2013, it had been almost three years since his last game.

"It was definitely difficult," he said, "but God has a plan for everybody. Just being able to stay humble and stay focused on the big picture, I knew my time was coming. They say that God is going to lift you up in your worst times. And He did."

That first year at Baylor, Oakman hung up a crumpled scrap of a torn magazine page in his locker as a daily reminder of what he had gone through. The story talked about how Oakman was no longer on the Penn State team and that the Nittany Lions would be better off without him. "That's what I got out of it," he said. "It's why I'm looking forward to playing at Baylor."

Since then, though, he's allowed himself to let go.

"That's in the past. Some things, you've got to let go," Oakman said. "When God blesses you with so much more, there's no point in holding on to the old barriers."

His moment of peace came last season. Backing up senior starter Terrance Lloyd, Oakman made an immediate impact with 33 tackles, 12.5 stops behind the line, two sacks, two forced fumbles, one recovery and a blocked field goal for the Big 12 champions.

"Going through that redshirt process, it was still a hard process," he said. "But being able to have that pressure lifted off my shoulders, being able to play a real game again for the first time in three years, that was the best feeling I could ever feel in my life."

Despite not starting, Oakman was named third-team All-Big 12 by Phil Steele and honorable mention Sophomore All-American by Scout/College Football News.

"I was just there to cause havoc and be the most violent that I could possibly be between the lines," he said. "So, I believe I did my job very well."

The accolades have continued to flow in for Oakman, a preseason All-Big 12 pick who's on watch lists for the Lombardi, Bednarik, Nagurski and Ted Hendricks awards.

Oakman is a big reason why Baylor head coach Art Briles told the Big 12 media this summer, "I think up front, we'll be as talented and dominant as possibly anybody in the United States of America."

No pressure, right?

And while Oakman has certainly produced - he's had at least one sack in all but one game - Bennett and defensive line coach Chris Achuff want to see more.

"He's too inconsistent, quite honestly," Bennett said. "And he knows it. He's got a great get-off. Sometimes, he thinks too much. And I'll be honest with you, I'm backing off on some of our calls, because I think I've put too much on him."

Like Bennett, Oakman's goal is perfection . . . every game, every play, in everything he does. He wants to brush his teeth better today than he did yesterday.

"And that's the only thing that's holding me back is perfection," he said. "I want to be perfect at everything I do. And when it's between the lines (on the field), I've got to be perfect. There is no reason I shouldn't be perfect."

In last week's 28-7 win at Texas, with the Bears still clinging to a 7-0 lead, Oakman bull-rushed the left tackle and ran through the running back to sack quarterback Tyrone Swoopes for a seven-yard loss. He leads the Big 12 and is tied for 10th nationally with five sacks and needs six more to break Baylor's single-season record.

"It's just gratification. It feels like you did your job," Oakman said of the sacks. "But you always want to do more. And the thing about it is you've just got to play your role. You can't go out there looking for sacks. If you just do your job, they're going to fall into your lap."

As the cornerstone for a Baylor defense that ranks fourth in yards allowed (267.2 per game), fifth in scoring defense (12.4) and 14th in run defense (102 yards per game and 2.9 per rush), Oakman believes he's an even better run-stopper than pass-rusher.

"Just being able to set the point and not get pushed off the line," he said, "I feel as though I'm way better at setting the point and grabbing the offensive tackle and not letting him move me than actually rushing the passer."

With rock-hard abs, Oakman's not shy of showing off the physique. But he said the Bears don't go into the weight room to "be body-builders or the strongest man in the world."

"Kaz Kazadi is a great strength coach, and he prepares us for battle," Oakman said. "Being in the weight room, that's just a bonus. I'm naturally strong, and Kaz Kazadi just brought the freak out of me."

Various mock drafts have Oakman projected to go in the first round and potentially in the first 10 picks if he comes out after this season, but that's not something he worries about right now.

"College is fun for me. No responsibility - go to school and play football," he said. "I don't have to worry about any of those real problems that real people have to worry about. I know that everything is going to fall in place in God's will. . . . I've still got to worry about TCU and this national championship that Art Briles wants."

Wannstedt, a former NFL coach, said what will separate Oakman from the rest of the pack is his ability to rush the passer.

"That's what the NFL is going to look at," Wannstedt said. "Hopefully, Phil will turn him loose. Phil had a chance to coach Jabaal Sheard and Greg Romeus in our third year together (at Pitt), so Phil knows how to use him. But that's what is going to determine where he stands. Can the guy rush the passer? Does he have that first-step quickness, can he use his hands and does he have a feel for where the quarterback's at?"

And at least through the first five games, the answers are yes, yes, yes and yes.

"He's right where he's supposed to be right now, where we thought he would be three years ago," Achuff said. "What we thought he could be when he walked through the door, he's becoming that. He's a big, physical guy."

While the Penn State players he left behind remain his brothers, it's clear that Oakman has found a new family at Baylor. When asked about the defense losing Jamal Palmer at the other end to a torn ACL, Oakman choked back tears and could barely speak.

"It hurt so bad. That's my brother. That's definitely my brother," he said. "I don't even like talking about it because it hurt me more than . . . I don't even know."

Did you know?
Not only was Oakman an all-state football player in high school, he was also the starting center for the Penn Wood basketball team that won the Pennsylvania Class 4A state championship in '09 and was runner-up in 2010. "I could definitely be a college basketball player," he said. "I believe it's just the mentality that you come in with. Like I believe I could be the best swimmer in the country; the best anything. You put something in my hand, and I'm not going to fail at it. I believe I could do anything."