TUSCALOOSA — Auburn gave Alabama its best shot, but not even Gus Malzahn’s high flying offense could keep up in the highest scoring Iron Bowl in history.

Trailing by twelve in the third quarter, Alabama scored on five consecutive drives to race by their in-state rivals for a 55-44 victory that kept the Crimson Tide’s playoff hopes firmly in grasp. With the win, Alabama (11-1) also won the SEC West title outright and will face Missouri in next week’s SEC championship game in Atlanta.

“We didn’t play very well in the first half and didn’t start out well in the second half, but we just kept grinding,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “We started making some plays on offense and got the momentum of the game back.”

Auburn (8-4) didn’t make it easy.

One year after the rivals played one of the wildest games in college football history — ending on a 100-yard missed field goal return by Auburn’s Chris Davis — they lit up the scoreboard in Tuscaloosa.

The Tigers piled up 630 yards and scored on eight of their first ten possessions to take a 33-21 lead with 11:02 left in the third quarter. It could have been more, as Auburn had to settle for five Daniel Carlson field goal attempts despite reaching the red zone.

Alabama countered Auburn’s hot start with a heavy dose of Heisman candidate Amari Cooper, who caught 13 balls for 224 yards and three touchdowns. Cooper caught touchdown passes from quarterback Blake Sims on back-to-back drives — including one for 75 yards — to pull Alabama within 36-34 with 3:20 left in the third quarter.

“Coop has been great for us all year,” Saban said. “He certainly had a great game today.”

However, in a game where 99 points were scored, it ended up being a defensive play that helped swing the momentum.

Alabama’s Nick Perry intercepted Auburn’s Nick Marshall and returned it to the Crimson Tide 31-yard line to set up an 11-yard touchdown scamper by Sims around left end. Before the turnover, Marshall had been nearly flawless on a night where he threw for an Auburn record 456 yards and three touchdowns.

Sims, the quarterback considered the better pure passer of the two, struggled early. The senior threw three interceptions and  failed to find any consistency, but shook off the rust in the second half.

With the lead finally in hand, he led Alabama on a 10-play drive and found DeAndrew White for a 6-yard touchdown with 12:54 left to extend Alabama’s lead to 48-36.

“I didn’t have a very good first half,” Sims said. “We came into halftime and the team said, ‘It’s okay Blake, keep playing, we are behind you 100 percent.’ They rallied behind me and the receivers got open.”

After another red zone stand by the Crimson Tide defense, Derrick Henry delivered the knockout blow on a 25-yard touchdown run with 3:46 left to play to give Alabama a 55-36 lead.

Thanks to Mississippi’s upset win over Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl, Alabama knew before kickoff that it had won the SEC West title, but still needed a good showing to keep its lofty No. 1 standing in the college football playoff rankings.

“It makes you proud, and I’m sure our players are extremely happy to win the SEC West and have an opportunity to go to the SEC Championship game,” Saban said.

After an opening fumble by Auburn on a backwards pass, the Crimson Tide jumped out to a 7-0 lead on an 8-yard run by T.J. Yeldon. Auburn’s ensuing 72-yard drive stalled inside the Alabama 3-yard line, setting up a 20-yard Carlson field goal.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, that would become a theme for the first half.

Cooper caught his first touchdown — this one for 17 yards — on Alabama’s next possession to give the Crimson Tide a 14-3 lead with 6:17 left in the opening quarter. Auburn scored the game’s next six points on Carlson field goals, which were attempted after the Alabama defense held with their backs against their own end zone.

“I think the name of the game really was that when we got in the red zone, we had to kick field goals,” Malzahn said. “We kicked five of them and didn’t score our touchdowns.”

Auburn took the lead for the first time on a 34-yard touchdown connection from Marshall to Sammie Coates, who had a big night. At that point the Tigers had already piled up 231 yards and Alabama didn’t find an answer for the rest of the opening half.

After the team’s traded punts for the only time the entire game, Alabama reclaimed the lead on a 1-yard run by Yeldon on fourth-and-goal with 1:23 left in the first half.

With Alabama getting the ball to begin the second half, it looked as if the Crimson Tide had righted the ship and were about to put their stamp on the game, but that wouldn’t come until much later.

Instead, Auburn shocked the crowd at Bryant Denny Stadium by scoring 10 points in the final 54 seconds of the opening half. Just two plays after Yeldon’s score, Marshall connected with Coates for a 68-yard touchdown to give Auburn a 23-21 lead.

Sims was intercepted on the second play of the ensuing Alabama drive, setting Auburn up at the Alabama 41-yard line. With time waning in the first half, Malzahn called up a trick play — a reverse pass that resulted in Marshall throwing to a wide open Coates for 40 yards. After a Cameron Artis-Payne run resulted in a loss of yards, Auburn had to settle for a Carlson 20-yard field goal to take a 26-21 lead into the locker room.

Sims threw his third interception of the night on Alabama’s opening possession of the second half and Auburn took advantage. Marshall found Quan Bray for a 5-yard touchdown connection with 11:02 remaining in the third quarter to put the Tigers up 33-21.

Unable to slow the Tigers, Saban gambled on Alabama’s next possession on fourth-and-3. Sims connected with White on a screen for 3-yards, keeping the drive alive. On the next play, Sims found a wide open Cooper for a 39-yard score to pull the Tide within 33-27.

“The fact is I thought we needed to score to change the momentum of the game — you have to take some chances,” Saban said. “That was one that paid off for us, and I think it did change the game.”

While Alabama kept finding the end zone, Auburn drives kept stalling when it mattered the most.

A fifth Auburn drive was stopped inside the Alabama 20, and Carlson tacked on his fifth field goal to make it 36-27 Tigers.

Cooper’s third touchdown of the night pulled Alabama within two and Sims’ big run put the Tide on top for good.

Sims was 20-of-27 for 312 yards and four touchdown passes. Artis-Payne had 15 carries with 11:01 left in the second quarter, but ended with 25 attempts for 77 yards. Auburn’s D’haquille Williams finished with 121 yards on seven receptions.

Next week’s Alabama-Missouri SEC championship game will start at 4 p.m. eastern time.