Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547542
D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 6 2 1 IT'S ALL WITHIN REACH Chase Sowell's dazzling season at Penn State is about more than football M AT T H E R B | M AT T. H E R B @ O N 3 . C O M T he offseason is a time for optimism throughout college football, so when Penn State's coaching staff asked players to write down their goals for the 2026 campaign, redshirt senior wide receiver Chase Sowell didn't hold back. Hauling in 1,000 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns — that's what a suc- cessful season looked like to the Iowa State transfer. The more important numbers, how- ever, came from a question Matt Camp- bell had asked him during his time with the Cyclones and revisited after they ar- rived in State College: What could he do during the next 12 months that would change the next 20 years? Sowell had an answer for that, too. He wanted to build a football career that would allow him to take care of the people who had helped him get this far in life. "I don't want them to work again," he said. "They've done everything to put me in this position, and I just want to give that back to them." Sowell is the son of two former major- college athletes. Ronnie Sowell played baseball at Florida, while his wife, Keisha Bell Sowell, was a star soccer player for the Gators, winning a national champi- onship in 1998 and later playing for the U.S. Women's National Team. Two of the Sowells' four children are now suiting up for the Nittany Lions, with redshirt fresh- man cornerback Hunter Sowell having joined his older brother in State College after starting out at Iowa State. Hunter's opportunity may come in the years ahead, but it's been Chase's turn to shine this year. In a season that began trending down for the Nittany Lions as soon as Big Ten opponents started ap- pearing on the schedule, Sowell has of- fered a glimpse of the team that Penn State wants to be. Through nine games, the 6-foot-3, 203-pound wideout had amassed 38 catches for 635 yards and 4 touchdowns. Those numbers included a breakout performance at Michigan on Oct. 17 in which he consistently burned one of the nation's better defenses, catch- ing 11 passes for 151 yards.