TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- It wasn't pretty, but top-ranked Alabama recorded a 38-10 win over Western Kentucky in its home opener in front of a sell-out crowd of 101,821.

Alabama coach Nick Saban was not happy following the win.

"We have lots of work to do as we're going to play a lot better teams," Saban said. "I didn't think we practiced very well this week, and I didn't think we prepared very well for this game. I don't think we respected the team that we played. Like I said before, when you're arrogant, it makes you complacent and it creates a blatant disregard for doing things right.

"If we don't start doing things right, we're not going to have the kind of success that we're capable of. So, we'll certainly focus on that. It's all my responsibility. We need to get the job done better. I'm almost embarrassed that I didn't do a better job for my team."

Alabama got two passing touchdowns from quarterback Jalen Hurts and a defensive score en route to the victory.

Hurts, a true freshman, earned his first career start for Alabama. He played the majority of the afternoon with redshirt freshman Blake Barnett serving as the backup.

Hurts connected with receiver ArDarius Stewart for an 8-yard touchdown pass midway through the third quarter to put Alabama up 24-3.

"He made some good decisions," Saban said of Hurts. "He did some things where we had some guys open that he didn't hit. I think we have to get more comfortable in making those reads."

Alabama running back Bo Scarbrough added a 2-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to make it 31-3.

Western Kentucky scored a touchdown with less than one minute to play when quarterback Drew Eckels found receiver Lucky Jackson for a 24-yard score.

"Our hats off to Alabama. They're a great football team," said Western Kentucky coach Jeff Brohm. "We knew that coming in, and they played extremely well. They did a great job on defense like they normally do and was able to shut us down. We didn't have a whole lot of answers, but I thought our guys played hard. Our defense played well. They hung in there. They were on the field for a long time. I like the fight in our team. We have a lot of season to play for. We just got beat by a much better team today."

Alabama freshman running back B.J. Emmons added a late touchdown to make it 38-3.

Hurts led two scoring drives to open the game, and Alabama got another score from its defense to take a 17-3 lead into the break.

Hurts finished the opening half 10 of 13 for 152 yards, a touchdown and no turnovers. Hurts played the first five series of the first half. Barnett entered the contest and played two series in the second quarter, but both of his drives resulted in punts.

"Well, you know we're just not playing very well. No consistency on offense," Saban said at halftime. "We made some explosive plays. One of them got called back, that was a 70-yard play so. We just have to be more consistent in what we're doing offensively. The quarterbacks need to settle down. There's people open they're not hitting.

"Defensively, we didn't play very well on that last drive, but this is a team that we've got to be able to go out there and put away. And we haven't been able to do that yet."

Alabama wide receiver Calvin Ridley caught five passes for 98 yards and the score, including a long of 51 yards.

Western Kentucky receiver Taywan Taylor piled up 109 receiving yards on six grabs in the first half. Quarterback Mike White threw 22 passes, but completed just nine and threw an interception in the first half. White left the game in the second half with an injury.

"I think Mike will be OK," Brohm said. "He got a little doozy on the unnecessary roughness penalty, when they threw him down after the play. Thought he could go, but decided after talking that he wasn't all where he needed to be, and we brought our other quarterbacks in."

NOTES: QB Jalen Hurts snapped a 32-year streak when he took the field in Alabama's home opener vs. Western Kentucky on Saturday. Hurts became the first true freshman quarterback to start a game at Alabama since Vince Sutton in 1984. ... With his 55-yard touchdown, Alabama S Eddie Jackson has now returned three interceptions for touchdowns since the start of the 2015 season. ... Western Kentucky DB Joe Brown was injured in the third quarter, and was immediately taken to the locker room. He was replaced by Martavius Mims. ... Western Kentucky QB Mike White was taken to the locker room late in the third quarter. He was replaced by Tyler Ferguson. ... Alabama travels to Oxford, Miss., to face Ole Miss next week. ... Western Kentucky is at Miami (Ohio) next Saturday.