A Texas House push to exclude the state from observing daylight saving time has collapsed amid concerns that doing so would make residents choose between going to church and watching the Dallas Cowboys.

After a lengthy, often outlandish debate, lawmakers defeated the much-watched proposal Friday 56-79.

Its sponsor, Van Republican Rep. Dan Flynn, called changing clocks twice annually "simply a hassle that we don't need anymore."

Supporters said scrapping daylight saving time would keep children from heading to school in pre-dawn darkness.

But the fervor waned amid realizations that, while the start of Sunday church in Texas would change, NFL start times elsewhere may not.

It reached crescendo when Dallas Democratic Rep. Rafael Anchia declared: "I don't want to miss church, and I don't want to miss the Cowboys game."