EVANSTON-it’s just two letters long, but, given Northwestern’s performance this season, it’s arguably the most important, and certainly the most conspicuous, word on the two-deep the Wildcat program released on Monday.

The word is “or,” and, in this case, it refers to the starting quarterback position on the Wildcat depth chart. The starting quarterback is listed once again as Aidan Smith -OR- Hunter Johnson.

The definition of “or” in the dictionary is a conjunction “used to link alternatives.” On the two-deep, it implies that either Smith or Johnson, the Wildcats’ two quarterback alternatives, could get the start.

Yet, since the Nebraska game on Oct. 5, Smith has started three games, while Johnson hasn’t gotten a single snap.

What makes that decision questionable is that Northwestern’s offense has been historically futile under Smith. We’re talking about levels not seen since the program’s Dark Ages of the early 1980s. Right now, Northwestern’s average of 10.7 points per game would be the program’s lowest output since 1983, when the Dennis Green-coached Wildcats finished 2-9 and last in the nation with 9.2 points per game.

What’s more, the Wildcats seem to be getting worse. They’ve scored a total of 13 points in three games and just three in their last eight quarters. They now rank 130th – dead-last – in the nation in scoring and 129th in yards per game at 266.

While no one is suggesting that Smith is the only culprit for the offense’s troubles, it would seem that Fitzgerald would at least try Johnson to wake up his sleepy offense. Smith's passing efficiency rating of 73.3 is the worst in the country.

Even more curiously, the one time Fitzgerald did pull Smith, in the garbage-time final minutes of a 52-3 loss to No. 4 Ohio State, he put third-stringer Andrew Marty into the game because, the coach offered afterward, “he’s from Ohio.” (Marty, in an indication of what kind of year it’s been in Evanston, threw an interception on his only passing attempt.)

So the word “or” seems inaccurate at best and deliberately misleading at worst. In fact, Fitzgerald even admitted as much on Monday. When I asked the coach what that word meant in relation to his two QBs, he said that he included “or” as an attempt to avoid talking about it.

“I just didn’t change it because I didn’t think you’d ask me about it if I didn’t change it,” he said with a laugh.

Then he proceeded to tap-dance around the issue with a non-answer.

“We’ve got to get production out of that room and both guys, obviously, aren’t happy with the way they’re playing,” he said. “Two great guys. They’re outstanding young men. They want to win in the worst way.”

They may both want to win, but only one of them is playing. So the central question is why, if Fitzgerald needs more production out of his quarterbacks, wouldn’t he at least try inserting the one guy on his roster with an NFL arm.

Johnson started the first three games of the season and, while he wasn't productive, his performance certainly didn't earn him a permanent benching, especially in light of Smith's numbers, which are slightly worse.

Later, when asked by Noah Coffman of InsideNU what Smith has done in practice to earn the starting job, no matter what the depth chart says, Fitzgerald again beat around the bush.

“We were dealing with an injury situation a couple weeks ago (when Johnson was hurt during the Wisconsin game on Sept. 28) and we made a decision to go in the direction we have gone now, and we'll see how things progress,” he said. “The bottom line is that we’ve got to win and we’ve got to be better at that position and so we're going to evaluate every rep every day, and we'll see how things progress. Those guys know that. I wish we had somebody solidified.”

He then went on to talk about how lucky the Wildcats were to have Clayton Thorson as a starter for four years, the team’s minus-7 turnover ratio and the lack of plays made on defense and special teams.

In other words, he wasn't going to directly answer the question.

So, to summarize what we learned: the depth chart isn’t accurate, Smith is the de-facto starter but maybe isn’t, the offense isn’t working and Fitzgerald hasn’t gone to Johnson at QB because…well, we don’t know why.

There are plenty of theories posted on the WildcatReport message boards about why, of course. In the absence of answers, fans will start developing their own.

So while Fitzgerald successfully avoided giving the media any kind of an answer on Monday, the questions will surely persist until one of two things happen: the offense improves or a new quarterback lines up behind the center.