WR
Redshirt Senior
Iowa State transfer with 32 catches for 500 yards in 2025. Sowell caught five passes for 68 yards and a touchdown at Northwestern on October 2, confirming a substantial 2026 Penn State receiving role without establishing a fixed WR1 label.
Chase Sowell is a redshirt-senior receiver who followed Matt Campbell from Iowa State to Penn State after earlier stops at Colorado and East Carolina. His Iowa State connection explains the scheme familiarity, but his game production is the useful measure of what he has brought to the 2026 receiver room.
In 2025 at Iowa State, Sowell played 12 games with six starts and caught 32 passes for 500 yards and two touchdowns. Those are previous-school statistics. Penn State's player bio credits him with eight catches for 126 yards and a touchdown through the first three games of 2026. At Northwestern on October 2, he caught five passes for 68 yards, including Penn State's receiving touchdown in the 34-13 loss.
Sowell has therefore moved beyond a preseason projection into a demonstrated passing-game role. His production does not, on its own, define a permanent receiver order or guarantee that he will lead every game in targets. It does give readers a clear baseline for judging the USC matchup and later Big Ten games.
Sources checked October 7, 2026