TUSCALOOSA — Quarterback Jalen Hurts accounted for three touchdowns, but it was the Alabama defense that shined the most in Saturday’s Iron Bowl.

Alabama pulled away in the second half for a 30-12 win over Auburn and held its fourth straight opponent without a touchdown. No. 1 ranked Alabama (12-0, 8-0) hasn’t allowed an opponent in the end zone since the third quarter of the Oct. 23 game against Texas A&M.

“I can’t tell you about the scoring touchdown thing,” said Alabama coach Nick Saban. “I know our guys are very competitive, and they have a lot of pride and they played at a very high level especially these last three or four games.”

Alabama finished the game with a 501-182 yardage advantage and held Auburn (8-4) to only one first down in the first half. The Tigers had just 34 yards of total offense at halftime, but trailed only 13-9 due to two Daniel Thomas interceptions of Hurts. Both interceptions set up two of Daniel Carlson four field goals.

Carlson’s other two field goals came after a 58-yard punt return in the first quarter by Stephen Roberts and a 55-yard pass by John Franklin to Eli Stove. Carlson connected on attempts of 52, 42, 39 and 27, but also missed a 52-yard try in the third quarter.

Outside of that, there were few highlights for the Tigers, but the Alabama offense provided plenty in the second half.

Hurts ran for a 4-yard score in the third quarter and later hit ArDarius Stewart for a 38-yard touchdown to help the Tide pull away.

Hurts, the first Alabama freshman quarterback to start the Iron Bowl, finished the game 27 of 36 passing for 286 yards. He connected 10 times with Stewart for 127 yards, and also threw a first half touchdown pass to Damien Harris, who snuck out of the backfield for an 18-yard score.

Bo Scarbrough ran the ball 17 times for 90 yards and 15 of those carries came in the second half.

“We didn’t run the ball well in the first half. I think that was part of the issue,” Saban said.

The Tigers played without starting quarterback Sean White, who missed his second straight game with a shoulder injury. Senior Jeremy Johnson got the start and finished the game 4-for-13 for 34 yards. Franklin and Chandler Cox also saw time at quarterback for the Tigers. Cox was intercepted on a fourth down throw by Shaun  Dion Hamilton, in the fourth quarter, putting to bed any thoughts of a comeback.

“He practiced this week, but he wasn’t 100 percent,” said Auburn coach Gus Malzahn about White. “We had to make a decision, and we just felt that he was not healthy enough to play. Jeremy had a good week of practice last week, and the plan was to play him (Jeremy) and John Franklin III a little bit more. Toward the end of the game we just felt we needed a spark, and John did a good job of that. John moved us down the field a couple times, as he got a first down with his legs on third and 10. He also aired the ball down field to get some pace and tempo going for us.”

Kamryn Pettway played for the first time since an injury against Vanderbilt, but he couldn’t get anything going on the ground. He finished with 17 rushing yards on 12 carries. Kerryon Johnson led the Auburn rushing attack with 39 yards.

“I think we controlled the line of scrimmage pretty well,” Saban said. “They didn’t have a lot of explosive runs.”

Coming into Saturday’s game, Alabama had already clinched the SEC West. As the only unbeaten power-5 team in the country, the Crimson Tide should stay No. 1 in the next batch of College Football Playoff Rankings going into next week’s SEC Championship game against Florida.

Alabama may not need to win that game to get into the playoff, but a victory would make a spot in the final four a certainty.

Auburn will wait on the bowl picture to sort itself out.

“I’m really proud of our team, but really the legacy of our team lies ahead in what they can accomplish and what they can do,” Saban said.