GLENDALE, Ariz. — The third time was the charm for the Oklahoma Sooners, who won their first Fiesta Bowl in the BCS Era on Saturday.

The Sooners beat the Connecticut Huskies, 48-20, ending a five-year BCS bowl slide and earning redemption for 43-42 and 48-28 losses to Boise State in 2006 and West Virginia in 2007 at the Fiesta Bowl.

Oklahoma rode on the shoulders of sophomore quarterback Landry Jones, who finished two yards shy of Sam Bradford’s school record for passing yards in a season (4,720).

Jones broke his own OU bowl record (418 yards vs. Stanford in the 2009 Sun Bowl) with 429 yards against the Huskies, the second-most in Fiesta Bowl history.

“Landry just continues to get better and better,” senior wide receiver Cameron Kenney said. “He is having the confidence in [the receivers] to make the plays whenever we need them on crucial downs.”

Jones started the game 12-for-12, guiding the Sooners to an early 14-0 lead. But unlucky No. 13 was picked off by UConn cornerback Dwayne Gratz and returned 46 yards for a touchdown.

Although UConn had been carried by running back Jordan Todman most of the season, the Sooner defense applied too much pressure for the Huskies to have success running early.

By halftime, the Huskies had passed one time fewer than they ran the ball and gained almost twice as many yards through the air than on the ground.

“[Oklahoma has] a talented defense and they are going to run to the ball and hit you,” Todman said. “They are well coached and have a good game plan.”

After two Jimmy Stevens field goals — from 41 and 24 yards out — and a Husky field goal, the Sooners led 20-10 at halftime.

In a quarter eerily similar to the end of the Bedlam game, the teams combined to score three touchdowns in just one minute and 25 seconds.

Jones found Kenney for a 59-yard touchdown down the right side of the field, then junior defensive back Jamell Fleming returned an interception 55 yards for another touchdown.

UConn’s Robbie Frey responded by returning the kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.

But after a field goal with five minutes left in the third, the Huskies were held scoreless for the rest of the game.

OU junior wide receiver Ryan Broyles led all receivers with 170 yards from 13 catches and a touchdown.

With Broyles double-covered much of the game, Kenney had another stand-out game for the Sooners, gaining 154 yards from seven catches and a touchdown.

“Through the last half of the season he has made some huge plays for us, and he did again tonight,” OU coach Bob Stoops said.

After being held to 38 yards in the first half, Todman finished with 121 yards and no touchdowns for the Huskies.

The Sooners (12-2) finished the season strong after winning key games on the road at Baylor and at Oklahoma State to earn a spot in the Big 12 Championship, where they beat Nebraska 23-20.

The win over Connecticut on Saturday was OU’s first BCS bowl win since the 2002 Rose Bowl against Washington State.

“After the (Texas A&M) game, I think everybody looked themselves in the mirror and said, ‘We are a better team than this,’” junior linebacker Travis Lewis said. “We never stopped believing in each other and this team. It is huge to finally get this monkey off our back.”

Quick Notes:

» OU junior cornerback Jamell Fleming’s 55-yard interception return for a touchdown was the longest in Fiesta Bowl history. The previous record — 54 yards — was set by Tennessee’s Dwayne Goodrich in 1999.

» For the second time in three years, OU leads the country in kick returns allowed for touchdowns after Robbie Frey’s 95-yard return for the Huskies in the third quarter.

» The Sooner defense did not give up an offensive touchdown to the Huskies. UConn earned its points from field goals, a kick return and an interception return but failed to score on offense.

» In a statement during the postgame press conference, junior linebacker Travis Lewis talked about how he and players coming back can ride the momentum gained at the end of this season into next season.

When asked if that meant he would be coming back for sure, Lewis said he hadn’t decided yet.

“I love being a Sooner,” he said. “There is nothing better than playing for this university. So it is going to be hard to give up.”

But he confirmed he has not yet made the decision.

» Also during the postgame press conference, junior wide receiver Ryan Broyles confirmed he has not yet made a decision whether to enter the NFL Draft.