MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The typical excitement surrounding the start of the season at Minnesota was tempered this week, the heaviness of a too-close-to-home tragedy making it harder to fully escape from the outside world at a football game.

After the Gophers beat Buffalo 23-10 at Huntington Bank Stadium on Thursday night , coach P.J. Fleck used the first three minutes of his postgame news conference to express his sadness and outrage on behalf of the team one day after two children at Annunciation Catholic School were shot to death in church. Fifteen other students and three parishioners in their 80s were wounded in the chilling attack in Minneapolis about 8 miles south of the university.

Fletcher Merkel, 8, and Harper Moyski, 10, were killed while sitting in the pews at a special first

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